Surprise in the mail

I found a lovely surprise in my mail box last week from the lovely Amy of happythings. It was a set of fabrics, buttons, ribbons and chocolates for Valentine´s Day. Thankyou Amy, how thoughtful! I was so inspired by how well the fabrics go with each other and immediately had to sew a pillow. I love how the black fabric stands out proudly amongst the patterns. My next finished project from The Crafter´s Companion is the book cover by Tania Ho (chocolateachuva). I mixed Amy´s fabrics with a couple of my own and it´s definately just the first of many book covers. I had such an AHA moment when I turned the cover inside out after sewing it, brilliant! It now adorns my organiser so I can admire it every day.

Sunday Scribblings # 48 puzzled

I love puzzles.

I have a Sudoku calendar and finish one puzzle every morning during my second cup of coffee. I love to make picture collages which resemble puzzles and I love a good crossword. I made my own crossword here, try it if you like!

The Crafter´s Companion cont´d

Summer Top - directions by Mariko, supereggplant.
Pin cushion - directions by Katey, onegoodbumblebee. (Katey´s design is for an ice cream pin cushion but I decided to make mine in a small shaker box).
Elephant Pouch - directions by Myra, mylittlemochi.
Fabric Basket - directions by Sarah, thesmallobject.
I am so enjoying these projects and the inspirational stories that the women featured in the book have shared. From the 17 projects I have now finished 13 and it´s been a kind of therapy for me. I have recognised similarities to many of the women aswell as differences and I have come to recognise my boundaries and the role that I want craft and my creativity to play in my life in the future. I can´t put all my thoughts into words right now but I´m getting there - I am looking forward to finishing the projects...stitching my quilt by hand is last on my list and every stitch will symbolise a new positive thought. I can feel a shift!

Sunday Scribblings #46 - Yummy

Yummy, yummy, yummy, I got love in my tummy,
and I feel like a-lovin you.
Love, you're such a sweet thing, good enough to eat thing,
and it's just a-what I'm gonna do.
(Arthur Resnick - Joey Levine)

Love and food, the 2 yummiest things I can think of. I remember the song yummy, yummy, yummy, from my childhood. There was an add that was on TV all the time showing kids eating soup, licking their lips with their eyeballs rolling back while the song was playing. When I was a kid I loved to eat but I was always worried that I wouldn´t get enough...food-love-food-love... while I ate, it felt good, like I was being rewarded, like I felt loved, cared for, nourished. In my teens I had a best friend, Bettina who did judo and could eat whatever she liked without gaining weight while I was labelled as chubby. When I look at photos of myself as a teen I see that I wasn´t chubby at all, just chubby compared to Bettina. I started to dislike my love of food and my body and the ups and downs of dieting started. That was such a long time ago and I wasted a lot of energy for a lot of years worrying about my weight and what I was eating.
When Erich got to know me and the tug-of-war that goes on in my head when it comes to eating, he said "hey, you are gorgeous! Stop worrying, just eat when you´re hungry!". Why is this so easy and logical for some and sooo difficult for others?

Other Sunday Scribbles here: http://sundayscribblings.blogspot.com/

The Crafter´s Companion Projects

I am having a love affair with pink - I adore that pink fabric with the flowers which was a bed linen set that I bought on sale last year. When I saw it amongst all the other boring bed linens I imagined all the lovely things I could make with it and right now it´s in almost every project I make so even when I run out of it, it´ll still be here. The checked pink fabric with the red ribbon is also bed linen found in a bag of old fabrics that Erich´s sister gave me - it reminds me of my Grandmother who had similar bed linen.

I used the pillow case for Hillary´s apron which I will be wearing when I do my gardening. The pockets will hold my little shovel and my garden cutters. Hillary is quite famous for her softy patterns in the blogging world - I especially loved her pointy kitty pattern. And that amazing photo of her fabric stash!

Square tissue boxes aren´t available here in Austria so I made a rectangular tissue box cover. I love Heidi´s little house tissue cover but mine looks nothing like it. I made a piece of crazy patchwork and followed Heidi´s instructions on how to put the cover together (without the roof). It looks great on my bathroom windowsill. I love the way Heidi writes about the paper dolls she played with as a child, I had those too and it certainly brought back old memories. I wonder if they are still available?

I hadn´t been blogging for long when I stumbled upon the illustrator Tania Howells and I was thrilled when she asked me to do a swap with her. She sent me the most beautiful items -badges, a Home Companion, some emroidered fabrics and threads and the loveliest bits and pieces. The photo of her inspiration board is beautiful and her needle case pattern is perfect! I´ve been wanting to make one since I saw all these lovely ones on Flickr and I used one of the fabrics Tania sent me as the outside piece. I made some of the pockets wider so my round needles also fit inside. No more looking for my needles!

Lisa Congdon´s words about why she creates and the healing power of making things with your hands really touched me. Her log cabin pillows are beautiful but...her artwork, her blog, her lifestyle, the way she dresses, her apartment -they are all parts of the one big canvas called a bird in the hand.

That´s 9 projects finished, 8 to go!

Library tote & patchwork purse

I love to take little treats to work with me...collaging materials, magazines, a book or knitting, things to brighten my working day during the short breaks between classes. It´s not always easy to leave the house and spend the day teaching english when I´d rather be sitting at the sewing machine but having some inspiration with me brightens my mood. In future I will be using this library tote as my treat bag. It´s a perfect size and I love the quirky little pocket which I have decorated with (you guessed it!) yo yos. This bag was designed by Fiona of hopskipjump, who also makes the most beautiful soft toys. The pattern was well explained and very easy to follow. Everyone has their own tricks when it comes to putting a bag together and the more you make, the easier it becomes. Last week my trusty old money purse fell apart - Lyn from mollychicken included a lovely patchwork purse pattern in the book and I managed to add an inside pocket and coin compartment to mine. I painted on a fabric stiffener so the purse is more vinyl like and can be cleaned with a damp cloth. These little things certainly brighten my day and it´s lovely to get compliments for things I have made myself. Lyn´s blog is an endless source of inspiration and I love to look at all the ideas from Japanese craft books. The Crafter´s Companion is full of beautiful photos and inspirational stories...next on my list of projects are the pillow case apron and the tissue box cover.

YO YOS!

Cassi Griffin is the next blogger in the book The Crafter´s Companion and hers was one of the first blogs I ever read. She has an amazing collection of Japanese craft books and makes beautiful things. She is a home-schooling Mum to 3 kids and I can truly relate to her words "what I like least about it (housework) is that you never have much to show for your labor. When I craft I end up with something tangible. I have something that says, look what I did!".

Above you can see the scarf I made from her fabric scarf pattern. I used 2 different silks and it turned out very soft and summery. I used Cassi´s instructions and a yo yo tutorial by Heather to make some brooches and now I´m addicted to making those yo yos! I can´t stop !

Inspiration: The Crafter´s Companion

I want to do the projects in the order that they come in the book so I´ve started on a quilt but that´s going to take a while. I finished some log cabin squares a while back which I have incorporated into the top of the quilt and I´ll be using some old bed linen for underneath. I have yet to buy batting and do the real work which is very well outlined in the book by Amy Carol. Her instructions have finally given me the courage to start something that I´ve wanted to do for ages.

In the meantime... I do a lot of shopping as there are 5 mouths to feed in this household so I have gone on to make something practical, a market bag - designed by Anna Torborg, the mastermind behind this wonderful book. I added a crochet base to the bag to make it stronger and I made the handles a little longer so they would fit over my shoulder. I love how it fits into its little pouch so I can take it with me in my handbag and don´t have to buy plastic bags to carry my shopping home.

"6 weird things about you"

I have been tagged by Diana...

so here are 6 weird things about me:

1. I have a black spot on my right eye, next to my pupil. The kids say it´s my 3rd eye.

2. I often watch up to 3 tv shows at the same time because I hate advertising so I jump between channels.

3. I must sleep nearest to the bedroom door. It doesn´t have to be the left or the right side, just closest to the door.

4. I love to challenge myself to do different things with each hand that involve different motions, for example mix a cake batter with my right hand and wipe clean the stove with my left hand, or brush my hair with my left hand and clean my teeth with my right hand.

5. I get teary eyed at the drop of a hat...a sad movie, a beautiful magazine layout, watching my kids wait for the bus in the morning...

6. I can remember really small details about events or people, they just jump into my head - even if I haven´t seen someone for years I am often able to remember their phone number, address, what they wore at a wedding or party, their favourite colour, foods, movies and their star sign and who they dated. I can drive people crazy with this because I can remember things that they have long forgotten.

Alexandra, Laini, Jorth, Ihanna, Mijk and Mirre, you´re tagged. I dare you to write 6 weird things about yourselves.

Little Pouches

I made these little pouches to use up left over crochet cotton and wool. They are similar to my large one, just more simple. I crocheted the base first, sewed the fabric tube (leaving a gap in the side seem for the ribbon before hemming the top and bottom seems) and then stitched the two parts together by hand, threaded a chain-stitch crochet ribbon through and voilá!

Sunday Scribblings #42 - I have an idea.

I am often heard saying "I have an idea!". The look on Erich´s face usually says "Oh no! What is it this time?" but he patiently asks "really darling, what is it!". The ideas I have are usually for little face-lifts around the house, which require drilling, building or painting (by Erich) or a trip to Ikea. But there are other times when people I know have asked me for advice on decorating, sewing, cooking, buying or making a gift for someone, an idea for a party or song lyrics. I always have an idea. Sometimes it jumps into my head straight away and sometimes I say I´ll think about it and get back to them and I go about my day and suddenly the idea will come to me. Not just vaguely mind you, I can see, smell and feel the idea, I can picture it in all it´s detail and my enthusiasm can be overwhelming because I get impatient when I describe the idea and the other person can´t see it, or when someone wants to work on my idea and change it so I say "just trust me, it will be wonderful!" and it always is. I love to pass my ideas on to other people and see them work.

Ideas for my own creativity seem to be endless at the moment and although I´m concentrating on the projects in The Crafter´s Companion, new ideas pop into my head all the time. I made a collage last year called Meine Kleine Welt (my little world) by covering a styropor head (used to display wigs) with magazine clippings and it´s like my head inside out - full of pictures, full of words, full of so many ideas. Will I ever be able to harness them all? Will there ever be enough time to accomplish everything? I don´t know but I´m going with it because this is what really makes me happy, seeing ideas in my head and then watching them become real things, things that can be touched, things that please, soothe and warm and things that motivate other people to have new ideas. Ideas make the world go round!

More Sunday Scribblings here.

Lots of ideas here, here and here.

On My Table

On my breakfast table this morning...a vintage glass plate (thrifted), a polish milk jug (bought at a local shop), a vintage Edelweiss butter dish (flea market) and a plastic strawberry sugar bowl(a swap gift from Jessica). Jamie wrote about watching for signs over at Create a Connection, Try Day and I have my eyes open. What really speaks to me is COLOUR, it can take my breath away and make me almost giddy. There is such beauty in orange, aqua is energizing, pale yellow soothes me and I can get lost in red. . I also love the beauty in useful objects like dishes and jugs, especially when they have a history. I often imagine where my flea market finds have been and who they have belonged to in the past.

Sunday Scribblings #41 - Kissing

The faces that I like kissing the most.

INSPIRATION : The Crafter´s Companion

Erich bought me this book a while ago after I´d seen the list of contributers and wouldn´t stop raving about it. I was so excited when it arrived and read it from cover to cover within a few days, it was even better than I expected and I recommend it to anyone interested in people and crafts. It´s full of inspiring tales, workspaces and projects - new ideas and viewpoints aswell as a lot that I can relate to. I´m going to make everything in the book, with my own personal touch - here´s the first project completed...This Zakka-Style Pouch (below) was inspired by Alison Brookbanks, an architect from Sydney whose blog is called sixandahalfstitches and whose pages in the book are so beautifully written.
I knitted the grey fabric from Australian sheep´s wool I received from my mother and felted it myself following Alison´s instructions.The bottom and the ribbon are crocheted and I lined the bag to give it extra strength. The drawstring ribbon is sewn onto the base of the bag so I can wear it as a backpack or throw it over my shoulder and it´s big enough to hold my knitting, a book, a pencil case and a journal aswell as my ipod, wallet and phone. Thankyou Alison, I really enjoyed making this!

Sunday Scribblings # 40 DESTINATIONS

I don´t know who said it but I agree that

"OUR PATH IS OUR DESTINATION"

One year ago I decided to try my hand at writing a blog. I had found Swirly Girl by coincidence after looking for women artists on google and after looking through her links I realised that there was a whole world out there that I hadn´t known existed...bloggers on a path to write, share and encourage each other. I ached and craved to be a part of this movement so I set up a blogger account and started writing. After a few posts Jamie found me, Megg, Alexandra and Laini soon followed and I am so grateful for these and all the other connections I have made here.

One of my first posts was about getting organised and I have truly managed to accomplish this during the last year by organising, simplifying and giving away things and taking steps to being a more conscious and creative consumer. That´s what 2006 was about for me, reducing to make space and time for the important people and things in my life.

In July and August I was able to go back to Australia for a holiday and it opened my eyes to a lot of things. Spending time with my parents and my brother showed me that the greatest gift I can give my children is unconditional love and an acceptance of who each one of them is as an individual with thoughts and feelings that should be respected. I believe that I recognise this because I didn´t experience that kind of love myself and that it was a lesson I had to learn.

In 2006 I turned 40 and I feel like I´ve made progress, I am more caring and forgiving towards myself, I am more grateful for all that I have because I have seen my world new through this blog and through the eyes of those who come here, I am more disciplined and I will continue on this path to play, discover, enjoy and experience. HAPPY 2007!

Sunday Scribblings #39 - Change

I look around me and see plenty that I´d like to change but I see a whole lot more that I wouldn´t like to change. That is certainly something that´s changed.

See other Sunday Scribblings here.
See Wikipedia´s page on CHANGE here.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

To all my friends and everyone who reads this blog, Merry Christmas!

Weihnachtzeit!

Thanks for your wonderful comments everyone...after numerous days of thinking, crying, contemplating and relaxing I realise that I was tired. Tired from working 3 days a week, tired of seeing my kids tired, tired from not sleeping enough and tired of the direction the masses are letting themselves be directed in - usually these things don´t get to me because I can deal with them one at a time but for a short moment they all came together at once and it was like a kick in the guts. I am so looking forward to us all having 2 weeks holiday at home between Christmas and the 6th of January (3 Königs Tag). We can sleep in, go skiing and sledding(yes, it finally snowed again yesterday!), cook together, have friends over for Christmas biscuits and sit around the fire reading or talking.

Above are some photos of a Kristkindl market that I took part in, this one was indoors (in my office) and although I sold quite a few things, it was disheartening to see that many people don´t appreciate "handmade" and often compared our prices to those of "made in China" products. When we make things, we put our energy into them and pass this energy on when we sell or give away something we´ve made with our hands. When I see and use things I´ve received from other bloggers or bought from artists it enrichens my life and reminds me of all the fabulous people out there who are using their talents and sharing their energy and love. Now I´m off to paint some cups, bowls and plates for Erich´s nephews and if I have time I´ll sew place mats to go with them...I feel well again, I have energy again, I am learning.

I´m losing it!

I am trying to retrace yesterday´s steps to pinpoint the moment when I lost the plot.

Things were going great, it was cold but the sun was shining, I drove my son to school and was looking forward to 2 hours to myself in the city to do some Christmas shopping before work and I think that´s when it started. The shops weren´t open yet so I sat down in a café for a drink to get out of the cold and caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror and realised how old and tired I looked at that moment. I found it difficult to find something positive about my appearance.

I bought a watch for Markus and afterwards I went to a phone shop wanting to buy mobile phones for my 2 oldest sons for Christmas. A brochure came in the post last week and I had already chosen 2 affordable, user friendly phones BUT then the salesman explained all the extra costs involved and that I hadn´t read the fine print and I was dissappointed. He and the other 2 salesmen acted as though it was normal for parents to buy their children expensive cell phones, then spend numerous dollars every month for the fees and that every kid these days needs a phone with a built-in camera, video function, MP3 player and entertainment package. 90% of the kids that go to school with my boys have these mobile phones, how on earth can their parents afford it? The rest of the day the world around me seemed shallow and superficial. I felt like an outsider - like the world is moving in a direction that I just don´t get! I wanted to pack my bags and move far away with my family, to a place where work and money aren´t so important, where school is fun and early morning starts, homework and marks don´t make my children tired. I know it seems ridiculous that a cell phone shop would trigger these feelings off but I think they were already lying under the surface, waiting for the right moment to catch me off guard. Sometimes it all seems too much, like we are caught up in some sort of flow that´s dragging us a long. When I told Erich about my feelings he gave me a hug and said, "tomorrow´s a new day". I wish I could be more like him.

Today IS a new day and I feel drained. I´ve been going through drawers and cupboards, cleaning and putting up some Christmas decorations in the hope that my positive outlook will come back. I´m taking the boys out for lunch after school and when we get home I´ll make a fire, drink a coffee with Erich and hopefully, by then I´ll feel better.

Christmas ball # 2

For this one I used sequins, long pins (with small silver heads) and tube-like glass pearls (for jewelery making). Once again use a toothpick (pushed into one end of the styropor ball) to hold your ball more easily. Cover the ball with a thin coat of water based glue. Push a pin through the glass pearl then the sequin, dip into extra glue and then push it into the ball. Continue doing this, overlapping sequins a little, until the ball is completely covered. Stick the toothpicked ball into styropor and let dry overnight. Use a sequin and a needle dipped in glue to attach a piece of ribbon to the end of the ball where the toothpick was, let the glue dry and the ball is ready to hang on the Christmas tree!